“Happiness Is All We Want” by Ashutosh Mishra

Recently, I was delighted to read ” Happiness Is All I Want” by Ashutosh Mishra, a 200-page book published by Bloomsbury in 2016. Mishra is a B. Tech from IIT Delhi and an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur. He has spent more than one and a half decades in the banking industry. He has worked with international organisations such as Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank and is currently a senior banker in ANZ Bank.  Mishra is therefore well-qualified to understand the stresses and strains of modern-day corporate life where executives are expected to be accessible almost on a 24×7 basis. 

Obviously a lot of thought has gone into planning the structure of the book. This has resulted in it being very readable as the concepts are presented in an easy to read and understand style.  To equip the reader with specific tools to translate these readings into purposeful action, each chapter has, ” Smart Wellbeing Capsules”, “Practical Tips”, ” Things To Ponder”, and ” Things To Do.” The end of the book has a summary of the Smart Wellbeing Capsules, all in one handy page. In my view, all of these make the book particularly useful to the present day executive irrespective of the industry in which they work or the length of experience they have.

I liked the way the book is arranged into 3 distinct parts: these cover, “Mental Wellbeing”, “Physical Wellbeing”, and “Spiritual Wellbeing.”  The first two parts are relatively easy to write about but I thought Mishra has done extremely well to write about spiritual development which most people, in my opinion, find difficult to comprehend and even more difficult to practice in the hustle and bustle of today’s highly competitive and stressful corporate life. This is not to say that implementing actions to improve yourself in the first two spheres of Mental Wellbeing and Physical Wellbeing are very easy. They are not. They call for a lot of self-discipline and motivation. Which is what this book is all about.  It helps you get off your butt and act!

The tying up of a concept to a real life story adds charm and value to each chapter and makes it more easy for us to relate to what is being said. We realize that we have been through the situation ourselves, more often than not or have known some colleague, friend or relative who has been through such a crisis.

The author sums it up well in the end: “If you don’t take care of your business, someone else will. If you don’t take care of yourself, no one else will.” Read this book carefully and implement your own actions to achieve your happiness goals and career success.